… Besides being the title of a PIG album, it’s also how a lot of CrossFitters feel about fat in general. I’ve had a few great, well-known intellectual influences in my life. Gary Taubes is one of them. He is one of the the best known and well researched carbohydrate restriction advocates in the US. Check out the Polish take on carb restriction. Coincidentally, his title reminded me of the musical connection, thus I don’t feel bad for stealing it. Luckily, the Zone is carbohydrate restriction with plenty of room for fat.
Here is a lecture by him. If you don’t have 71 minutes to spend, check out the article that rocked the nation. And another one. In the interest of fairness and free thought, I want to give you competing views about his hypothesis. Make up your own mind.

• Reason Magazine, an otherwise stellar publication, had this to say about him. Taubes’ rebuttal is at the bottom of the article.
• The New York Times had this critique.
• Finally, here is the Ornish Diet–another rebuttal, in a sense.

Post your thoughts.

–Nick

Carolina had been down for a little while about her seeming lack of progress (in her mind). Well, the other night (as you can see in the above picture) she blew that feeling away. She did her very first workout as Rx and even beat some of the other alpha females in the gym. True to form, Carolina said “They must have had a bad day!” Could it be perhaps that hard work pays off? Great job to Carolina and to everybody else like her who come and consistently try their hardest!

—–

Also, we have new photos uploaded to flickr (189 to be exact) click here to check them out and see if you made the cut!

—–

-Bryant

So finally it all has been set. Ozzi and I have been working together on the parkour training for a couple of weeks and we now have the schedule and outline for the program. So if you have ever fantasized about having control over your fears, whether it is possible to have Jackie Chan-like skills, moving like a black panther, or just to achieve what you never thought possible, then this PK training is definitely for you. We have gone through a good amount of planning to make sure the entire camp is a good fit for any skill level so anyone can join in the fun. As I have heard Ozzi say “Parkour adapts to your body, not the other way around”. I would go so far to say too that if you feel like you suck at this type of thing or are “uncoordinated” this is the best thing you could do for yourself in order to get that handled. Having a skilled coach guide you through the movements and watch you can help wonders and its fun. We are going to cap the class at 12 people so email me or talk to me at the gym if you are interested in the training. Enough talk here are all the details.

This Parkour camp is scheduled to start on June 5th and end July 26.Classes will be held Thursdays 7pm to 9pm and Saturday 12pm to 2pm. This is an 8 weeks programs that will cover all of the parkour basics. The cost for the camp is 320 dollars.

Some of you already know the instructors Ozzi, Pete and Adam.
If not you can check out some of their media appearances here.

Here is a little more information about the program itself from Ozzi.

Parkour Training Camp

This classes are designed for those who need an extra push, those who are seeking for a different method of training, or those who want to take parkour to a whole new level making it part of their life style in training as well as in the daily life.

Particularly those who are seeking for a fun way to get in-tune with their body and achieving the physical condition who some never dreamed of.

Parkour Conditioning.

* Complete body conditioning and strength. (no body part is left behind)
* Flexibility.
* Balance and coordination.
* Explosive muscle power.
* Agility, speed and flow of body movements.
* Complete body awareness
* Awareness of surroundings.
* Proper landing methods and how to safety break a fall and distribute body mass to prevent injury.

Parkour Techniques.

* Parkour combines a series of natural body movements to quickly and effectively get over an obstacle.
* It can include running, jumping, climbing, balancing or even crawling, if that is the most suitable movement for the situation.
* Parkour is also about preservation of the body, although it will teach you how to use your body to overcome an obstacle for an emergency, parkour main priority is the preparation of the body to be ready when needed through constant conditioning and repetition of techniques.

Mental/psychological benefits

* Through the journey of most Traceur (parkour practitioner) it is very common to notice a shifting on the way one can canalize your fears. More body control and awareness, leads to more confidence and trust in one’s body to react quickly when needed. By getting in tune more and more with one’s body and being able to use fears as an ally rather than an enemy, a new mindset is introduced. Most traceurs dont see obstacles or walls, they see opportunities and possibilities for a particular situation. That is the traceurs mindset, which should be carried during training as well as in all aspect of our daily life’s.

Here is a little teaser put together by Pete and I so you can have an idea of the beauty of this discipline.

Start signing up now, for more information you can talk to Bryant or Marcus.

Out line.

Week 1a
Video Introduction 30 mins
Purposes of this course
Fitness Test

Balance
Hang time (shimmies, swing, monkey etc)
Rope Climb
QM’s/crawls etc.
Cat Grabs
Jumps - up, up and over, height, side ways.
Wall walks - Hand stands
Flexibility.

Week 1b
Rolls and Landings

Roll technique - directions - uses - drills
landing - condition - proper techniques - uses -drills
Uses of rolls to break falls.

Week 2a
Jumping Technique

Block jump (heights)
Distance jumping (gap jumps)
Speed jumping (approaching with jog/run)

Cranes - both legs
With Approach and stationary take off.
Introduction to Precision

Week 2b
Precisions

Balance conditioning (cat balance etc)
Balance Drills

Take off (arms, approach take off, and stationary take off, etc)
Air time
Spotting landing
landing (ball of feet, absorption)
Landing (rail precisions)
Technique and variation (ledges, rails)
Drills
Introduction to Hurdles

Week 3a
Hurdles

Form (knees/landing etc)
Proper jumping method - ambidextrous take off.
Up and over (land with roll and without)
Introduction to speed vault.

Week 3b
Vaulting Introduction
Up right vaults

Methods and benefits
First fears and how to handle them
Progression

Speed vault
Approach
Take off variations (ambidextrous technique - inside or outside leg)
Arm placement (leaning etc)
Landings - Preservation of momentum
Drills
Introduction to Lazy Vault

Week 4a
Vaulting Introduction

Lazy Vault
Balance/weight transferring and fluid motion (energy preservation)
Approach (side & forward)
Take off (ambidextrous take off - kick etc.)
Progression of motion (arm placement - balance - hip thrust/weight transferring and release)
Landing (level - momentum preservation - and heights/transition to landing technique/roll if needed)
Variation (thief)
Drills
Introduction to Dash

Week 4b
(Gauntlet)

Dash introduction.
Most common fears
Take off (ambidextrous)
Body transition and progression
Landing (level and drops)
Variation of obstacles
Drills

Week 5a
Lets Relax

Over all light body conditioning
Catch up session (technique and philosophy)
Own time training
A new vision - non training experiences - different perspectives.
Review or techniques.

Week 5b
Intermediate Vaulting
Light over all body conditioning

Two handed vault.
Approach (speed variation)
Take off (introduction to split and double foot take off)
Hand placement (weight balancing - release)
Progressive motion technique
landing (variation on heights)
Drills
Introduction to Monkey Vault

Week 6a
Intermediate vaulting
Light over all body conditioning

Monkey & Kong Vault
Monkey Vault
Progression (knees technique)
Approach & take off (motion and stationary)
Hand placement (chest over, upper body push - release)
Landing (preservation of momentum)
Transition on to Kong Vault
Speed approach (arm coordination)
Take off (split and double)
Reach (dive, hand placement, hips, legs, upper body push)
Landing (preservation of momentum - height - transition on to roll)
Variations (traveling kong)
Drills
Introduction to Turn Vault.

Week 6b
Intermediate Vaulting
Upper body explosive conditioning

Turn Vault
Approach
Hand Placement
Take off (stationary)
Progression (chest over - weight balancing - spotting landing - hand switch)
Dismount
Variation (TSLT)
Drills

Introduction to Under Bars
Methods and uses
First fears and how to handle them Progression

Approach (motions and stationary)
Take off (legs first)
Spotting hand placement.
Motion (hips/kick, pull up, push and release)
Landing (level and heights)
Variation (360, high jump, side angle)

Week 7a
Tic Tacs

Uses and variations
Motion breakdown
Approach (speed and jump)
Take off (foot placement between hip and knee)
Progression (45° kick, arms and push)
Direction (up, across, forward)
Landing (if needed)
Variation (180 or 2 footed)

Pop Vault
Transitioning from tic tac
Transferring momentum upward
Climb up (arm placement, using momentum to assist your climb)
Push over.
Landing.

Week 7b
Wall ups

Reaching higher obstacles by using the techniques learned during the tic tac and pop vault class.
Emphasis on kick, reach and climb up.

Cat Grabs

Uses and variations.
Proper body positioning. (legs flexed, arms slightly bent, traversal motion)
Foot placement (placing feet first to absorb impact)
Hand placement (proper placement to transition onto climb up)
Take off (with approach or stationary)

Week 8a
Review of all the above

Focusing on detail to improve form, efficiency and performance.
Combining certain technique together for different real situations
Dealing with outside fears.

Week 8b
Dealing with fears II.
Taking the learned to apply in more suitable situations
Urban Training.

“Pukie the Clown”
We know we have a great community here at Crossfit Oahu. What is your knowledge of the greater Crossfit community? Here are few links that any crossfitter should know about. Have fun wasting away your work day on CF sites!!
www.crossfit.com The page that started it all!
www.crossfit.com/cf-affiliates See what other gyms are up to.
www.crossfit.com/journal The best place for fitness info.
www.board.crossfit.com Any question you can think of has been asked on this board.
www.crossfitkids.com Coming soon to CFO…
skievat.blogspot.com All bodyweight Crossfit exercises. Great for when you are on the road.
www.mikesgym.org Crossfit mixed with Olympic lifting.
www.crossfitendurance.com Triathlon training for crossfitters.
www.performancemenu.com Another great resource for fitness info.

-Bryant

Congrats to Michelle Chun, who is the winner of the Zone Nutrition Challenge!! Please read her story below but first I just need to say that there were some amazing results from so many of you and I really appreciate your testimonials. You will inspire so many peope so those will be posted on the forum and the website for all to read!

OK, here is Michelle’s story about “The Zone” and how she really made it a family affair…

Thanks so much for introducing me to the Zone!! It has been a very positive experience. The whole family is eating healthier. It was a bit overwhelming at first but once I got the blocks and measurements down it was NO PROBLEM! I actually like making and packing our meals. I pretty much have it down with preparing most of the foods ahead of time. I used to try to stay away from fats but now I love fats! I love the nut butters from Safeway and almonds are never too far away. I like the structure and the discipline of the Zone.

For the month I ate everything on the “favorable” lists and just used the handout you gave. That was all the info I needed. I haven’t read the book. I don’t think you really need it.

I feel stronger and healthier. My husband says being on the Zone makes him have more energy and he isn’t tired during the day. My 8 year old son Parker says being on the Zone has improved his baseball game. He says that his hitting has improved. My 5 year old daughter Noe says being on the Zone makes her run faster. I’m not really sure if a 5 year old can tell, but if she thinks it makes her run faster then I’m all for it! All in all we are all happier and healthier thanks to the Zone. I plan on continuing to feed our family like this. I have been “strict” Zoning and I haven’t cheated and don’t plan on it. I don’t really have any desire to eat food that is not clean. I’m actually scared to eat any non Zone food/processed food/sugar or any other crap. I think that I will feel bad, gain weight and just suck at everything!

I lost 11 pounds doing the Zone for a month. I’m thankful to CFO for introducing me to the Zone and thankful to all the other CF’ers that helped me along the way. Special thanks to Cheryl who answered all my crazy Zone questions every morning before the 9:00 class.

The Zone is great. It’s not hard, you just have to work a little in the beginning and commit yourself. Anybody can do it. Measuring and packing is not that hard either. You just have to decide whether you want to do it for yourself or not!

Thanks CFO!!

Wait, there’s more…..

I forgot to mention that one of the reasons I wanted to try and experiment with the Zone was because I kept reading on the message board about all you awesome women getting your muscle ups down and it said you were doing the Zone. I was trying to get my kips and pull ups down and wasn’t as successful as I had hoped. I thought that maybe doing the Zone would help in that area. Before CFO I could barely do one dead hang pull up. I just tried yesterday at home and I think I can do 3! I think I may have gotten the kipping pull ups down too. I was doing the G I Jane workout at CFO and it just suddenly came to me. I think I wasn’t thinking too hard about what i was doing. I was almost half way through with the workout and landed wrong and tore my meniscus (so bummed!) so I wasn’t able to finish the workout. I was so disappointed because I really wanted to see if I really got the kips down. My doc says no jumping so I can’t try for awhile. I’m kind of crazy, but I think about kipping pull ups all the time and want to try them but I can’t risk tearing my knee more. I’m really bummed. Anyways, I think that the Zone has seriously helped with my pull ups and I think I might be getting stronger. I’m so happy!!

The message board is inspiring too! It’s cool to read about everyone meeting their goals.

Thanks again for everything!

And here is her acceptance speech…

Wow! Thanks. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I just did it so I could try to be bad ass like all you other CFO women! Thanks though! Just yesterday I got my first official kipping pullups so the Zone + CFO really work. Thanks again!!

Congrats again Michelle. You already are a BAD ASS CFO woman!!

Please leave Michelle a message here and I will post all the other inspiring stories in the next few days.

–Court